WCED Blog

Cary Still Booming

When people talk about Cary, they think growth. Its population of more than 121,000 residents makes it North Carolina’s seventh most populated city as well as the second biggest in Wake County behind Raleigh. That is quite a change from less than 20 years ago, when Cary’s population was under 44,000.

Cary’s population density is more than 10 times the state average (2,246 versus 164, according to the most recent survey). It has expanded in size so much that its municipal limits now include a portion of Chatham County on the southwest edge of town.

educated workforce (more than two-thirds of adults ages 25 and up have at least an associate degree, and Cary has the most Ph.D.s per capita in America for towns larger than 75,000 people).

Major employers based in Cary include SAS Institute (the largest privately-held software company in the world), publisher R.H. Donnellyand video game developer Epic Games. Employers feel Cary offers competitive costs for doing business, including lower construction costs than the national average and strong technology infrastructure (90 percent of Cary’s citizens have Internet access at home or at work, which is double the national average).

Such features have made Cary a very attractive for relocation, and in fact more than half of its residents were born in other states. Many people find Cary an ideal place to live, work and shop.